Waste basket and mounting



April 18, 1961 F. P. STEWART WASTE BASKET AND MOUNTING Filed July 16,1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.1

INVENTOR F P STEWART ATTORNEX April 18, 1961 STEWART 2,980,281

WASTE BASKET AND MOUNTING Filed July 16, 1958 2 Sheets-She'et 2 FIG.5

INVENTOR F P STEWART ATTORNEY 2,980,281 Patented Apr. 18, 1961 WASTEBASKET AND MOUNTING Frederick P. Stewart, 600 National Theater Bldg,"Washington, D.C.

Filed July 16, 1958, Ser. No. 748,949

2 Claims. (Cl. 220-18) This invention relates to furniture of variouskinds employed in homes, offices and other locations, and moreparticularly to the kind of furniture used in the normal conduct ofbusiness.

The invention is concerned particularly with articles of furniture suchas desks composed of metal, wood or other materials or combinations ofmaterials, and to receptacles employed in conjunction therewith for thecollection of waste paper and other discarded materials.

Heretofore collection receptacles such as waste baskets have beenprovided usually as separate items in connection with desks used inhomes, business offices and the like, although some of these collectionreceptacles have been located in contact with or attached to the desks.These have not been satisfactory because they were unsightly, in theway, were not easily accessible to the user or to the trash collector,and were cumbersome and expensive.

It is an object of the invention to provide a collection receptacleconveniently accessible both to the user of a desk and to a trashcollector, which is artistic, relatively simple and inexpensive, whichcan be incorporated in the desk at the time of manufacture or addedsubsequently, as well as a receptacle which will remain concealed orsubstantially concealed until removal of material therefrom is desired.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective of a desk of steel or other materialillustrating one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2, a fragmentary vertical section on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a detailed enlarged perspective of the waste basket andmounting;

Fig. 4, a longitudinal section of one of the mounting members of thewaste basket of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5, a perspective viewed from the interior of a modified form ofwaste basket and its mounting;

Fig. 6, a fragmentary vertical section of a desk with a waste basket andmounting.

Briefly stated a waste basket is provided having a bottom inclineddownwardly from rear to front, a front wall inclined forwardly from itsbottom to its top, side walls the upper edges of which taper upwardlyfrom the front wall to a normally substantially vertical rear wall. Therear wall may be integral with or independent of a mounting panelpreferably of a size to close the opening at the rear between spacedtwin pedestals containing drawers or storage compartments accessible atthe front and beneath the top of a desk. A pair of adjustably extensiblemounting tubes or rod like supports having suction tips for engagementwith spaced opposed desksurfaces. The bottom of the waste basketpivotally rests upon the lower of the mounting tubes and the weight ofthe basket causes the upper position of the basket to rest sidewiseagainst the upper mounting tube so that the basket is accessible fromthe front beneath the desk or from the rear of the desk.

With continued reference to the drawings, a popular type of steel deskmay have legs 10 on which are supported twin pedestals 11 which supporta top 12, with or without a drawer 13 (Fig. 2) beneath the same. Thedesk may or may not have a rear panel 14 between the twin pedestals.

With a desk of this type a waste basket is usually placed about the deskfor the receipt of waste paper or other discarded materials. When thewaste basket is in proximity to the desk it is unsightly and detractsfrom I the appearance of the room; it is a hazard since it provides anobject over which a person can trip or fall; it occupies valuable spaceand frequently waste baskets are bulky, cumbersomeand preferably arekept out of sight.

In order to overcome this condition a waste basket or receptacle fordiscarded material may be provided and built into or attached to thedesk in a position where it is convenient both to the user and to ajanitor or caretaker; it is of simple and inexpensive construction, ofattractive appearance, and is in an accessible location withoutinterfering with the full use of the desk.

The waste basket of the present invention is preferably composed of abottom 15, sloping downwardly from back to front, ends '16 and 17, afront 1'8 inclined forwardly from bottom to top so that the top of thebasket is somewhat larger than the bottom, and a substantially verticalback wall or panel 19 of greater height than the front and sides. Theback 19 preferably is of a width corresponding to the twin pedestals 11to provide a substan-' tially continuous appearance by filling the spacebetween the twin pedestals and the front is tapered upwardly from itsbottom or inclined slightly away from the rear panel to aid in insertingthe basket'and to prevent scratching the pedestals 11. The back of thebasket may have its top edge provided with an outwardly and downwardlyextending portion 20 to provide a groove for the fingers to facilitateremoval of the waste basket from the desk.

In order to mount the waste basket on the desk a pair of upper and lowersupports are provided in the form of a tube 21 in each end of which asmaller tube 22 is telescopically received. One of the tubes '22 isprovided with a stop in the form of a pin 23 against which a spring 24may abut and such spring 24 is adapted to engage and be confined betweenthe pin 23 and a bolt 25 which is adjustable along the length of thetube 21 by means of a series of openings 26.

The tube or sleeve 21 is provided at each of its ends with a reinforcingflange or ferrule 21'. The telescopically received tubes 22 are fittedon their outer ends with suction cups 27 and the spring 24 normallyurges both suction cups into intimate engagement with the twin pedestalsto maintain the supports in fixed position. The spacing of the cups onthe opposite ends of the holder may be varied to fit between the spacedtwin pedestals of the desk and against the sides of the same.

The waste basket may be mounted on two of the supports as illustrated inFig. 4 with the lower support forming a rest for the basket in thechannel formed beneath the bottom 15 and the rear wall or panel andagainst the front face of such rear Wall or the back 19 while the upperforms a limit stop against which the upper portion of the back rests orabuts due to the fact that the major portion of the weight of the basketis in front of such supports.

If desired, as disclosed in Figs. 5 and 6, a waste basket may beprovided with a back 19' having openings 28 so that the basket may befitted over supporting pins 29 on a panel 30 of a size to fill the spacebetween the twin pedestals at the back of the desk. Such panel may bemade of metal and have an annular flange 31 with a gripping flange 32along its upper rear edge. If preferred the panel 30 may be made of thesame material as the desk. It is adapted to be suppo'rted'in any desiredmanner as, for example, by, means of hinge pins 33 carried byreinforcing or mounting blocks 34.

When the pins 33 are mounted in the desk pedestals 11 and the panelis insubstantially upright position the weight of the waste basket will tendto swing it forward, which movement is limited by means of a bracket 35having a slot 36 in which is received pin 37. On 'account of the slot 36the panel may be swung rearwardly with the bracket moving rearwardlyover the pin until the end. of the bracket comes in contact with thepin. This permits the basket to be raised and removed.

It will be obvious to those skilled in'the art that various'changes maybe made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scopethereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which isillustrated in a the upper and lower edges of the rear wall and the rearwall extending below the bottom wall and forming with said bottom wall areceiving channel, a first rod like sup- 7 port the length of which isadjustable to accommodate itself to the distance between said spacedportions, said support being located beneath said bottom and in said 7channel formed by said rear wall and said bottom-wall,

a second rod like support the length of which is adjustable toaccommodate itself to the distance between said spaced portions, saidsecond support being located across and between the upper part of thespaced portions and against which second support the upper front faceportion of said t T 4 V 7 rear wall is engaged for holding the wastebasket in place, said rear wall having a fingers-receiving groove alongits rear upper portion for facilitating its application and re- :moval,said first and second supports including means norspaced surfaces toprovide a solid panel therewith, said container also having front, side,and bottom walls, said panel forming wall extending belowthe bottom andside walls and forming therewith a receiving channel, upper and lowerrod-like supports the lengths of which are adjustable to accommodatethemselves to the distance between spaced portions, one of said supportsbeing receivable in said channelformed by the lower edge of saidpanel-forming Wall and said bottom wall, the other of said supportsbeing adapted to be located above the sides and in contact with theupper front face portion of said panel-forming wall, whereby when thelatter is in substantially upright position the waste basket will reston'the lower support and the upper portion of the panelforming wall willrest against the upper support, said supports includingmeans normallytending to extend the Birch Mar. 20, 1900 645,543 1,434,480 7 Clark.Nov. 7,1922 1,567,618 Robinson Dec. 29, 1925 1,639,551 Booth Aug. 16;1927 2,425,083 Brooks Aug. 25, 1947 2,459,301 7 Adams Jan. 18, 1949

